


Twisted Minds

by Nevaeh_284



Category: Original Work
Genre: Character Death, Demonic Possession, Demons, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:40:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22319521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nevaeh_284/pseuds/Nevaeh_284
Summary: Melody Rose is a 13 year old girl with an issue. She has a friend that no one else thinks is real. Everyone thinks she's sick or crazy, even her own family. Her friends don't believe her, either. Melody starts to lose hope, until two strangers show up at her house. Then things aren't exactly what they seem...
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Male Character
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

Melody sat in class, tapping her pencil on her desk. The teacher was talking about the end of the world or some crap like that. She glanced over at her friend Oliver, he was sketching something in a notebook. Oliver had narcolepsy, but he took medicine to help with it. She noticed his fiery orange hair was all over the place, sticking up in the most random places. He was very unorganized and messy.

Melody then looked at Oliver's little sister, Lilith. Lilith was writing down notes, her copper hair covering her face from Melody's view. She was 7 years of age and in 6th grade with them. Lilith was freakishly smart for her age. She was a straight-A student and she had a 4.0 GPA. Oliver got As and Bs, his GPA was around 3.5ish. Melody, on the other hand, the best grade she had ever gotten was a C-. It's not like she doesn't understand the topics she's taught, she just never does her homework and puts in no effort. 

Melody sighed, waiting for the school day to be done. There was a minute left of class. She watched the clock.... _ tick....tock...tick....tock _ _....... _

_ "You should really be paying attention, Melody."  _ A man's voice commented. Melody jumped in her seat a bit, forgetting about the man behind her. His name was Vincent. He was her closest friend, but no one knew. Hell, no one believes he even exists beside her. She tried to tell her friends about him, but they thought she was sick. Vincent was a spirit of some sort. Melody doesn't know why only she can hear, see, smell, and touch him. She's known him since she was ten. He followed her everywhere, too. He was a little clingy but overall he was great company. 

_ Riiiinnngggggg _

Melody got up, grateful that the school day was over. She practically leaped out of her seat and grabbed her things with newfound after-school energy. She sped-walked out of the classroom and to her locker, Vincent followed her, trying to make small talk.

Melody arrived at her locker, she started gathering her things. " _ Don't forget about your homework, you need to get that done. You have science, math, don't forget about music too."  _ Vincent commented, trying to get her to grab her stuff, but nonetheless, she didn't. 

_ If I have all this homework to do, I won't have any time to do my own thing.  _ Melody thought, knowing Vincent reads her mind. That's how they communicate when Melody is in public. Vincent can read her mind and what she projects towards him.

" _ Yeah, and then you'll get in trouble, and then you won't be able to do your own thing for a long time,"  _ Vincent replied with an annoyed tone.

_ I can just do it in the morning, you know all the answers, you just have to tell me them. _

_ "And what makes you think I'll give you the answers?" _

_ Because you don't want me to get in trouble.  _ Vincent huffed, she was right. Melody smiled to herself a bit, she knew Vincent too well to let him win their arguments. Vincent grabbed her homework and put it in her bag (it was more like knocking it into her bag, he can’t pick up many objects) when no one was looking.

Melody finished grabbing her things and started her walk down the stairs. Once she got down the stairwell, she went outside to the front of the school. It was bustling with activity. Kids were running around, going on buses, and getting picked up by their parents. Melody sighed, her mom was barely ever around in the afternoon, 2 of her 3 friends were orphans, and she sucked at anything involving physical activity. It was a nice day out though, well, as nice as it can get during the winter season. 

Melody started her 15-minute walk home, dodging snowballs being flung around on the way. 

After what seemed like hours, she arrived home. She walked into her house and she flung off her backpack, coat, and shoes. Melody then went upstairs to her bedroom, Vincent followed her.

Melody arrived in her room upstairs, where she ran into her brother, literally. "Hey-! “ Her brother, Chris, exclaimed after Melody ran into him.

"S-Sorry Chris...." Melody replied, quietly. She heard Vincent growling behind her, she shuddered a bit. 

Melody didn't like Chris that much. First off, he was a cocky jerk. Second, he was the most popular kid in 10th grade, and in High School. He was also good looking with green eyes and perfect blond hair. His face was basically perfect, he was tall, he was skinny but had muscle, and his skin was literally flawless. He could almost be flawless himself if he fixed up his personality.

Melody, on the other hand, was flawed in every way possible. Her hair was dark brown and messy, she had normal brownish red, almost black eyes, she was short and underweight, her skin had scars in it from over the years, and she was the least popular kid in Jr. high. Everyone thought she was a freak, especially when she accidentally talked to Vincent out loud.

"Go talk to your imaginary friend and leave me alone." Chris snapped, “freak” He muttered as he went into his room. Melody sighed and went into her own room. Vincent followed her inside and sat on her bed. 

" _ Don't listen to that vile creature, Mel. He just wants to make himself feel better about his pitiful life _ ." Vincent said with a hint of anger to his voice. 

"It's hard not to listen to him when every other person agrees with him" Melody sighed. She sat down on her bed next to Vincent, leaning on his shoulder. Vincent put a comforting arm around her. Melody closed her eyes, dozing off. 

They sat like that for a while, until Melody fell asleep. Vincent lay her down on her bed, covering her up with her blanket. He looked at the clock, it read 3:36...

Melody awoke to her phone ringing. She groaned and looked at it, it was Oliver. She ignored it and looked at the time.  _ 6:56....how long was I asleep...? _

_ "3 hours and 20 minutes,"  _ Vincent said with a bored tone. He was sitting on her desk chair, watching her. He had a pencil in his hand, her homework was next to him.

_ Oh...thanks Vince.  _ Melody got up and stretched. Her stomach growled. She was hungry. She decided to make her way downstairs. Vincent wrote something down before he followed her.

When Melody got downstairs to the kitchen, she noticed that the house faintly smelled like veggies.  _ They must have had veggie stuff for supper, gross.  _ Melody thought. Her mother was in the living room, watching TV.

" _ They did,"  _ Vincent told the young girl.

"Oh okay, I'll just have toast then..." Melody said

" _ No, you're gonna eat chicken nuggets with cottage cheese, and you're GOING to LIKE it. You need to stop relying on bread to feed you! _ " Vincent ordered Melody. Said person sighed. 

"Fine," Melody muttered. She got out the chicken nuggets and put some in the microwave. While she waited she also got out the cottage cheese.

Melody looked at Vincent, watching him as he looked out the window. Her thoughts drifted towards who he was before he was a ghost. He never talked about it, and when she tried to talk to him, he got quiet and disappeared for the rest of the day. The microwave beeped and Melody grabbed her food. She sat down and ate.

Melody was reading in the living room an hour later. " _ You should probably get some sleep, you don't want to be a walking zombie at school again,"  _ Vincent commented, sitting next to her on the chair. 

“You should go to bed, honey. It’s late and it’s a school night” Her mother, Jen, said coincidentally. Vincent looked at Jen funny.

"Yeah yeah okay fine." Melody closed her book and shut the TV off. She headed upstairs with Vincent. And so she started her nightly routine. She brushed her messy hair, she brushed her teeth, and she got into her pajamas. Vincent waited for her in her bedroom. 

She finally got into her room and plopped on her bed. Melody climbed underneath her covers and shut the light off. Vincent went downstairs to the living room.

Her dreams that night were strange. She heard growling in the black nothingness of her current dream world, and she could smell the sharp tang of what seemed to be some kind of metal. Suddenly, there was a loud beeping noise.

Melody awoke, due to her alarm waking her up. She sighed and got out of bed, shrugging off the weird dream. She got up and got dressed in her usual black pants and a flannel shirt. Today she was wearing a blue and grey flannel. She moved over to her dresser and got on her necklace. It was a silver heart locket that Vincent had given her. Melody walked into the hallway.

Vincent was in the hallway too, he was studying himself in the mirror. His dark brown hair was covering his right eye, he was wearing a heart locket necklace like Melody, but his was slightly cracked. He sighed, his icy blue eyes bore holes into him and he looked at Melody as if he couldn't stand to look at himself anymore. Melody smiled warmly and went downstairs to continue her morning routine. Vincent nagged her to get her homework the whole time.

After Melody ate breakfast she ran upstairs and grabbed her stuff. Then she walked the 15 minutes to school with Vincent. He was yelling at her about not grabbing her homework the whole time. When she got to school, she saw Oliver. She walked over to him. 

Oliver was freaking out about a dream he had. “There was this weird growling noise and what smelled like blood or metal or something. I didn’t like it.” He was ranting to his sister, Lilith.

Melody suddenly chimed in, “I had the same dream last night, it was all dark and spooky.” Melody glanced at Vincent and he had an odd expression on his face. 

“You did not! Did you?” Oliver asked, not quite believing her.

“I did. The growling sounded dog-like, and the metal smelled like copper.” Melody replied, shrugging.

“Weird…” Oliver said, trailing off into thought.

Lilith spoke up, “I think you’re both crazy.” She joked.

“Says the one who’s wearing a fairy princess shirt” Melody smiled, nudging Lilith who was now pouting.

Then suddenly the bell rang and school started. Melody walked inside casually chatting with Oliver and Lilith. Vincent followed her closely..

When recess came around, Melody and Lilith were play fighting, Oliver had fallen asleep and he was napping. Melody didn't understand how he could sleep when it was cold. Eventually, Melody and Lilith got tired, so Melody picked up Lilith and walked over to Oliver, where she dropped Lilith on him.

"AH FUDGE OW!" Oliver screamed, waking up. 

Melody and Lilith laughed. "You guys suck," Oliver grumbled.

Melody looked around, she didn't see Vincent anywhere. Melody started walking around a bit, looking for him.

"Melody? Are you okay?" Lilith asked confused.

Melody went back over to Oliver and Lilith. "Yeah, I'm fine, I just...thought I..." She looked for something to say. "I thought...I DROPPED MY LUNCH TICKET! But I didn't, it's in my pocket!" She pulled her lunch ticket out of her pocket. 

"Okay...if you say so..." Oliver replied. He was weirded out, Melody could tell.

"Let's go eat lunch, I'm starving!" Lilith complained. 

"Okay," Melody replied. She turned around and saw Vincent right behind her. She jumped a bit. "JEEZUS CHEESE!" Vincent smirked at her and she glared at him.

"Melody...?" Oliver was now worried about her mental health.

"S-Sorry! I saw a  **BUG** ." Melody directed those last words towards Vincent. Vincent just laughed. 

And so the small crew walked into the building, Vincent following behind.

Melody, Oliver, and Lilith were all eating lunch. Vincent was wandering around the lunchroom, occasionally tipping over people's milk cartons. 

Oliver and Melody were chatting about the newest obsession they both have, it was a game called Undertale. It had come out the year before and Melody had been trying to get Oliver to play it ever since she played it. Lilith was stabbing her mashed potatoes, sculpting a unicorn out of them. 

Melody hadn’t been eating anything, like usual. Oliver had tried many times, but he had always failed in the end.

" _ You need to finish eating, you barely touched anything on your plate _ ." Vincent, who was now behind her, told her.

"Don't let this stupid food thing become a habit, Vincent." Melody retorted, accidentally out loud.

Oliver and Lilith glanced at each other. Melody knew what they were feeling. Pity. She hated the way they looked at her like she was crazy. “Mel...there’s no one there…” Oliver tried to tell her.

“No! He’s REAL Oliver! Y-You may not hear or see him, b-but I do!” Melody desperately tried to explain, for the 3rd time that week.

“Melody...look, focus on something that’s real.” Oliver tried to suggest.

“HE IS REAL!” Melody shouted at Oliver. Oliver flinched back at the shrill tone to her voice. People were starting to stare. “Vincent DO something!” She begged as she turned towards him. 

“ _ Melody...calm down…”  _ Vincent shushed her calmly.

“Please…” Her voice was barely a whisper, cracked by her desperation. 

Other kids were whispering now, and Melody noticed. She looked around at everyone as they stared at her. She started to hyperventilate and she ran out of the lunchroom. Melody ignored Vincent, Oliver and Lilith calling after her. She ran as fast as she could down the halls, colors blurring past her. 

She wasn't crazy, she knew she wasn't. He could DO things. He was real. He had to be. Melody, lost in thought and still running, tripped and fell, hitting her head against the cold tile. She then watched, as the world faded to black.

Melody looked over and a guy was sitting in his desk chair. He was supposed to be working, but he didn't want to, it was such a beautiful day out. He would rather be outside, exploring the forest with his son and stepdaughter. Melody questioned herself, how would she know that? He also looked vaguely familiar. She heard the door open and he looked over as a 9-year-old boy came up to him. The boy had rusty orange eyes, brown hair, and the cutest little nose. She knew his name was Dominick.

"Hi daddy! Can we go get ice cream? Pleaaaseeeeee?" Dominick asked the guy with excited little jumps. The guy heard the door creak open again. He looked and saw his wife, Ariana, walked in. She had beautiful brown eyes, long flowing brown hair, and she wore an elegant dress. Melody knew her name too, but something seemed really familiar about her.

"I don't see why not, you have to ask your mother to see if it's okay with her first, though." He told his son, smiling.

"I already said yes, honey" Ariana said with her soft silky voice.

"Okay! Hey Dom, go get your sister and tell her we're getting ice cream" The guy told Dominick.

"Okay!" Dominick ran out of the room and down the hallway. Melody tried to follow him, but she couldn’t leave the guys side. "Gabrielle! We're going to go get ice cream!" Melody heard him call.

"Alright, I'm coming." Melody heard someone respond. She ran out with her little brother. She had brown hair and rusty brown eyes. The whole family was getting on their shoes. The guy wasn’t there anymore. Melody looked in the mirror, and instead of her reflection, it was- 

Melody woke up with a start, she was at the hospital. "Hngg" she groaned as her eyes adjusted to the blinding white light. She crinkled her nose at the smell of sterile...well...everything. She hated hospitals. She then remembered the weird dream she had.

"Melody!" She heard a familiar voice call.

Melody looked over and saw her mom sitting in a chair, well, she was sitting, until she rushed over to Melody and hugged the crap out of her. 

"Hrng...mom, you're killing me" Melody choked out, being suffocated by the hug. Her mom pulled away and huffed.

"Well, I'm sorry. This is the 7th time in the past 2 months you've been admitted to the ER, Melody. You need to be more careful! I can't keep paying for all of this." Her mother Jen explained.

"Sorry, mom…" Melody shamefully apologized. Her mom sighed and stroked her hair.

"It's okay, Mel." Her mom kissed her on the head. "Let's go home, shall we?" Melody smiled and nodded. "We can even make a quick stop at the store and get some soda and snacks. I feel like it's a good night for a movie night," Jen decided.

Melody nodded again, "it is the middle of winter, and there's little to nothing to do at home,"

Jen stood up and took Melody by the hand. They left the hospital, hopefully for the last time


	2. Chapter 2

Melody, Chris, and Jen were all in the living room watching movies and eating snacks. It was their traditional close-to-Christmas winter night. It was about 9 o’clock at night. Jen shut off the TV after they finished their movie.

“Okay you two, time for bed.” Jen told the pair.

“Aw, but it’s a Fridayyyyy” Melody complained

Jen looked at her daughter, “And you just got out of the ER. Bed, now.” Melody sighed and got up, maybe a little too fast for her injured head. She swayed a bit and got a sudden headache.

“G’night” Melody eventually said after stabilizing herself. She then proceeded to stumble up the stairs to her bedroom. When she eventually managed to get into her room, she flopped onto her bed. She just laid there, not noticing Vincent staring at her in confusion. He finally left after 10 minutes. Melody decided she would go to bed now. She got under her covers and fell asleep. 

Melody had another dream. She was in a study, contemplating writing something. It was around 10 at night. Suddenly, Ariana walked in and put a hand on Melody’s shoulder. Melody winced and Ariana quickly removed her hand. 

“I’m going to bed, ” Ariana said something, but Melody couldn’t hear what she said. 

“ , ” Melody said. She felt her mouth moving, but nothing came out. She suddenly signed some papers on the desk. Melody looked at the name.

Melody woke up to her phone buzzing. She groaned and checked it. It was Oliver.

“Hello..?” Melody groggily answered, still waking up.

“Melody! Glad you’re awake!” Oliver answered, happily.

_ “Well, he’s very chipper this morning.” _ Vincent, who was sitting in Melody’s desk chair, commented. He was annoyed. Melody shot the apparition a glare.

“Whaddya want?” Melody asked.

Oliver answered, excitedly, “You know the old abandoned house outside of town?” Vincent perked up. 

“You mean the big one? Like, the over 100 years old one?” Melody asked.

“Yeah! Well my foster sister, Kai, said she’d take us! As long as your brother came along.”

“My brother? Why would she- You know what, I don’t wanna know,” Melody responded. “I’ll go ask.” She muted her phone and got up. Melody stretched and then went to her brother’s room. She knocked on his door.

“What?” her brother responded, annoyed. 

“Wanna go to that old creepy place outside of town? Kai, the one in your grade, said she’d take us.” Melody explained.

“Sure…?” Chris responded, a little confused, “What’s even out there?”

“Dunno.” Melody shrugged. 

“Wait, hold on, didn’t mom put you on house arrest?” Chris interrogated her. 

“Well, mom’s not here. She out of town for today.” Melody argued.

“Fair enough.” Chris agreed. 

“Cool.” Melody said and went back to her phone, unmuting it. “He said yes.” 

“Okay! We’ll be there soon!” Oliver said and hung up. 

Melody set down her phone and shooed Vincent out of the room. Melody closed her door and got dressed, in regular clothing. She opened the door and went into the bathroom, brushing her teeth and combing her hair. 

Once she finished she got on her coat, hat, gloves, and snow boots. She grabbed her phone, put it in her pocket and waited downstairs. Vincent followed her. Chris joined her soon after. 

Melody, Chris and Vincent sat in silence for a while. Vincent was leaning against the doorway of their living room, staring out a window. Chris was sitting on the couch, on his phone, with nothing but a sweatshirt on. 

Melody’s phone soon buzzed. “They’re here!” said Melody, hopping up from her position on the chair. Vincent looked at her. Chris got up too. Melody led the three of them outside, and into the car. Chris took the front seat, Melody took the back, and Vincent took the middle seat.

“Hi Melody! Are you feeling any better?” Oliver questioned, looking right through Vincent. Vincent looked annoyed. 

“Yeah! I-” Melody started.

“She’s technically on house arrest.” Chris interrupted. Melody shot him a glare. 

“Well it’s a good thing she’s with us responsible highschool students.” Kai joked. Chris cracked a smile. Kai pulled out and started to drive. 

Melody looked out the window while they were driving. Oliver was looking out the other window. Vincent was sitting in between the two of them, silent. Chris and Kai were talking about school related stuff. 

Melody perked up when she saw that they were slowing down and making a turn onto a dirt road. It looked like it went quite a way into a (what would be if it wasn’t winter) dense forest. Vincent was starting to look a little green. 

“We’re almost there, guys.” Kai said, while driving down the dirt path.  Melody had rarely ever been out of the city. Maybe once or twice for dentist appointments, but it was always in the other direction. She never saw any other family other than who she lived with. When she thought about it, her mother might be an orphan. She liked the little town she was living in, but it sometimes got boring seeing all of the same places over and over again. She was excited.

They soon emerged from the forest into a clearing, where a giant house stood. It looked really old and definitely abandoned, but surprisingly intact. Melody found it oddly familiar. Kai pulled up to it, and parked near the entrance. Melody looked at Vincent, who had an unreadable expression on his face, like usual. He looked at her and smiled.

“Alright guys, lets do this.” Kai encouraged while shutting off the car. “Do we have snack?”

Oliver looked, “Yep”

“Flashlights?”

Oliver held them up, “Yep”

“First aid kits?” Chris and Melody passed a look.

Oliver held up 3, “Totally.”

“Then lets go!” Kai hopped out of the car. The 4 others followed. They trotted up to the front door. Kai opened it, it made a horrible screeching sound. Everyone winced. She stepped inside the old building, the floor creaking with effort after not being used for years. 

Chris went in after Kai, then Oliver followed. Melody went in after Oliver, then she noticed Vincent wasn’t following. She looked back at him, confused. “Are you coming?” He didn’t answer, he was just looking at the house. “Vincent?”

He snapped his head to her, “ _ Oh yeah, sorry. I’m coming.”  _ He walked over to her, and hesitated for a second, before entering. Oliver gave her a look of pity again. Chris rolled his eyes, and Kai looked intrigued by her brothers friend. 

“Not a word, Oliver.” Melody warned. Oliver looked away quickly. “So now wh-” Melody cut off as she looked around. It’s the house she keeps seeing in her dreams. 

“Melody…?” Oliver asked, confused. “Are you okay?” 

Melody collected herself, “Yeah, I’m fine sorry. Just thinking.”

“Okay..” Oliver said, not quite believing her. Vincent was staring at her, he looked kind of confused. 

Melody started walking towards a familiar hallway, “Lets go this way first!” Melody declared. Everyone agreed. Melody led them through the hallway to a back room. The study she was in. 

Melody went over to the desk, it was covered in dust and cobwebs. That was where she was sitting. Vincent was next to her, looking at the desk. Melody opened one of the drawers, curious. It took some effort, though. Once she did get it open, she looked inside. It was full of old papers and pencils. What caught her attention, though, was a singular book. She reached for it. 

“ _ I don’t think that’s a wise idea,”  _ Vincent hastily said. 

“Why not?” Melody challenged. Vincent scrambled to find a reply, but in the end, he couldn’t. Melody picked it up.

Melody started flipping through the pages, “It’s a journal?” Vincent watched her. Melody ran a hand over the pages. “It’s practically unharmed.”

“ _ Probably because it’s been in a drawer.”  _ Vincent commented.

Melody stuck the book in her pocket, “I’ll read it when I get home.” Vincent said nothing as he walked around the study. 

Melody sat, thinking. It couldn’t be coincidence that she ended up at this house after having dreams. She glanced at Vincent, who was at one of the study’s windows. He had his eyes closed, and he was leaning on the windowsill. It had to do something with him, she decided, but now was not the time to discuss it.

The others were waiting for her to finish talking to her “friend”. Melody turned towards them, “I found a book. I’m gonna keep it and read it.”

“How come you get to keep it?” Chris challenged.

“Because finders keepers, that’s why.” Melody retorted.

Chris scoffed, “Whatever.” Melody rolled her eyes. 

Vincent eventually walked back over to the small group, Melody looked at him. Oliver piped up, “Why don’t me and Melody go off on our own? C’mon!” He pulled Melody away before Kai or Chris could respond. Vincent followed the 6th graders. 

“What’s this about?” Melody asked.

Oliver shrugged, “Just wanted some alone time, away from the angsty teens.” He led them outside, “Let’s go check out the forest, shall we?” Melody nodded. 

She then looked at Vincent.  _ You know where we are, don’t you?  _

_ “Yes, I do.”  _ He responded. 

_ Do you know your way around the forest? _

_ “Yes...I do.”  _ He sighed, “ _ Follow me.” _ Vincent started walking into the forest. 

Melody followed, pulling along Oliver, “We’re gonna follow Vincent, okay?”

“Uh...sure?” Oliver hesitantly responded. Melody smiled and pulled him along, happily following Vincent.

They made their way along what seemed to be an old, faded, path. Melody was careful to step over and avoid any tree roots or fallen branches. Oliver also, still uncertainly, followed. 

Vincent eventually led them to a clearing. It dipped in the middle, so there was a frozen pond. Melody ran over to it, “Oliver! Check this out!” 

Oliver hastily followed her, “Melody be careful!”

Melody rolled her eyes, “Lighten up a little, Mr. Grumpy Pants.” Vincent shook his head at her terrible insult, ashamed. Oliver just sighed. Melody giggled, “Let’s keep going!” 

“ _ We shouldn’t go any farther than this.”  _ Vincent told her.

_ You’re also just a grumpy pants. _

_ “Melody!”  _ Vincent exclaimed.

“Hey Oliver, wanna have a race to the top of the hill?” She pointed towards the obvious hill.

Oliver sighed, “Sure, why not?” 

“ _ Melody, you really shouldn’t.”  _ Vincent hissed, a hint of worry in his voice.

“One…” Melody started counting. 

“ _ Melody stop.”  _ Vincent demanded her.

“Two…” Melody ignored him.

“ _ Melody!”  _ Vincent yelled, his tone changed from stern to fretful.

“Go!” Melody shouted and took off running. Oliver followed her, sprinting. 

They raced through the trees, towards the top of the hill. Oliver was trying to keep up with his female counterpart, but nonetheless, she was way faster than him. Vincent followed them, frantically muttering curses as he chased the two children. 

Melody reached the top. She came to a sudden stop before she tumbled off the cliff in front of her. “Woah,” Melody marveled, she could see everything from up there. There were rolling hills off to the right, and to the left, she could see her town. It was beautiful. 

She didn’t notice the heavy footsteps behind her. She was ripped away from her thoughts as the ground wasn’t beneath her feet anymore, and there was a sudden pain in her back. Oliver yelled as he accidentally ran into his friend, propelling her off the edge of the cliff. 

Oliver tried grabbing her, but she was just out of arm’s length. He watched in horror as his friend fell, then, less than a split second later, she stopped. Her arm dangled upwards, floating in the air. 

Melody looked up and saw Vincent. He was holding onto her arm, and he pulled her up, his face contorting with effort. He pulled her away from the edge once she was safely on the ground. Oliver watched in awe, confusion, and fear, as Melody was pulled back up by seemingly nothing. 

Melody clutched onto Vincent, shaking and crying. Vincent sighed with relief and hugged her. Oliver rushed over to them.

“Melody! I’m so sorry! Are you okay?! Who pulled you up?! I tried to stop but I slipped on the ice!” He hugged her, and then he frantically checked her over for any injury.

“I-i’m okay..” Melody reassured him, bringing him in for another hug, “Vincent grabbed me and pulled me up.” She explained. 

“So..so he is real..?” Oliver questioned.

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.” Melody shrugged, almost fully recovered. 

Oliver looked behind her, and to his surprise, he could see an unnatural silhouette of a person. Vincent looked at Oliver, holding his gaze, knowing Oliver couldn’t see his eyes. 

Melody just watched awkwardly, as Oliver and Vincent seemed to have a staring contest. “We should go back to Chris and Kai,” Melody finally interrupted. 

Oliver looked at her, “Agreed.”

Vincent stared at Oliver for a few seconds longer, before speaking, “ _ We should probably get you home, Melody. You need to rest, your head is still injured.” _

Melody whined, “But I wanna have more adventure and explore the house!”

“ _ You’ve had enough adventure for the rest of the week. C’mon, let’s go.”  _ Vincent ordered, grabbing both Melody and Oliver by the arm. He led them back through the forest. 

“AH!” Oliver yelled, surprised and terrified.

“He won’t hurt you, don’t worry” Melody reassured. Oliver nodded, still unsure, but going with it.

Vincent eventually let go of Oliver but kept his hold on Melody. He let go of her once they emerged from the forest into the driveway. Melody found Kai and Chris sitting on the steps, talking. She trotted up to them.

“Where were you?” Chris questioned.

“In the forest. Can we go? I’m getting tired.” Melody lied.

“Sure.” Chris sighed, getting up. He helped Kai up as well. 

“Had enough adventure?” Kai asked the pair. Both Melody and Oliver nodded. “Alright,” Kai laughed. She unlocked the car and the group piled in. Vincent sat in the middle of the backseat again. Kai got in and started the car. Chris got in the passenger seat. Kai pulled out of the driveway and drove away, the house fading into the distance


	3. Chapter 3

They got back to the Rose’s house in plenty of time. Melody, Vincent, and Oliver piled out of the car. Oliver watched Melody, still able to see the shadowy figure following her.

“Thanks for coming, guys,” Kai chirped before Chris could close the door. Chris sighed, not wanting to be sucked into an unwanted conversation for probably the 100th time that day.

“Yeah, no prob, got to go!” Chris replied hastily. He slammed the door shut without missing a beat. 

“Well that was rude,” Melody commented once the car was rolling down the icy street.

Chris gave her a look, “I was stuck talking to her about “The Bachelor” for like, two hours. I’d rather like to break out of that vicious cycle.” 

Melody giggled, “You have an admirer, it seems.” Chris sighed. Vincent, uninterested in the conversation, rolled his eyes.

“ _ Can we PLEASE go inside already, like yeesh, you just used up your weekly word limit to talking to Chris.”  _

Melody then gave HIM a look. She went inside, anyways. Chris followed, “I’m glad we beat mom home.”

“No kidding,” Melody replied, grateful she wasn’t caught. 

Chris checked his phone, “Mom should be home soon. She texted saying she was going to be home early.”

Melody made a noise, to let him know she heard him. She then proceeded to go into the kitchen. She was hungry. 

“And DON’T eat all the food in the house!” Chris shouted down the hallway.

“NO PROMISES!” Melody shouted back, grabbing an entire bag of chips. Vincent decided to sit at the kitchen table. Melody glanced at him as she got out some dip for her chips because plain potato chips are gross. 

_ “Do you really need food right now? It’s like...5 o’clock…”  _ Vincent commented, watching her eat. 

“Yes.” She said, looking him in the eyes. She continued to eat, the journal laying heavily in her pocket. She thought she saw Vincent glance at the pocket with the journal in it a few times.

Melody perked up as she saw the front door open, and her mom walked in. Melody quickly threw off her coat, and threw her shoes across the room, disposing of the evidence. 

“CHRIS! MELODY! COME HERE!” Her mother shouted. Melody got up and walked over to her. She saw another car parked in their driveway. It was running. Chris finally emerged from upstairs. 

After their standard greeting, Jen spoke up, “So, we’re going to have some guests for a few days.”

“Who?” Chris asked.

“Well, they’re some old friends of mine. You’ve never met them, but you can trust them.” Jen said that last part, looking directly at Melody. Vincent was leaning on the wall behind Melody now, interested in who’s staying over. “They’re going to be staying for a few days, mostly because Christmas in next week, and I need someone to watch you two troublemakers while you’re on Christmas break.”

Vincent decided to go upstairs, he was getting bored. “Okay..” Both Melody and Chris agreed, not happily. 

Jen stuck her head out of the door and made a gesture. Melody saw the car lights shut off, but she couldn’t see who stepped out. It was too dark. Melody stepped back from the door, and kinda hid in the corner of the hallway. She didn’t like new people. 

Two strangers opened the door and walked in. One seemed really approachable, he had blonde hair and green eyes. He seemed about her mom’s age, he was wearing a cross necklace and was holding a bible.  _ He must work in the church,  _ Melody thought. 

The other, however...He seemed...less..approachable. He had long black hair, he wore a faded leather jacket, and he looked like he hadn’t slept in years. He had dark reddish-brown eyes, like herself. 

“This is Alexander,” she gestured to the unpleasant looking one, “and Lance,” Jen gestured to the other one. Alexander looked right at Melody, with a VERY not good look.

“Jen, you said you only had ONE kid,” Alexander snapped.

“YoU saId yoU oNlY haD oNe KiD!” Jen mocked, “Grow a pair, Alex.”

“OKAY! Moving on!” Lance interrupted before Alexander could respond. “Not to mention, there are children present,” he directed at Alexander. Lance then looked at Melody and Chris. “It’s nice to meet you,” he smiled.

Melody’s assumptions about them were correct.

Alexander sighed, “Right.” He looked at the siblings, “It’s nice to meet you.” 

Jen looked at Melody, “You should go put your stuff in the kitchen away, including your shoes. I don’t want water dripping on the tile.”

Chris spoke up, “aaannnd THAT’S MY CUE TO LEAVE!” He ran upstairs. Jen sighed and chuckled to herself a bit. Melody decided now was a good time to go pick up her stuff in the kitchen. 

As she was about to turn around, she noticed Alexander looking behind and around her. Melody quickly walked away after that.

She got to the kitchen and put her shoes away neatly, she grabbed her coat and hung it up. Melody fished around in her pockets for her phone and the book. She got ahold of both of them and walked back into the hallway. She attempted to go upstairs but was stopped by her mom. 

“You should show Lance and Alexander the upstairs, while I make supper,” Jen suggested. 

“Uh..sure,” Melody agreed. “Uhm..follow me..” Melody told the two men, “I’m Melody, by the way.” She informed them as she walked up the stairs. 

“That’s a nice name,” Lance commented, following her. Alexander said nothing. 

Once they got upstairs, Melody showed them around, “It’s kinda small, there’s just my room, the guest bedroom, a bathroom, and Chris’s room.” She walked to the guest bedroom, “I assume this is where you guys will be staying,” Melody then walked a little farther down a very small hallway, “That’s my room,” She said as she poked her head through the door and tossed her phone and the book inside. Vincent wasn’t in the room. Melody avoided Chris’s room and showed them the bathroom. 

“So uh...yeah, that’s upstairs..” Melody said as she finished showing them around. 

“What happened to your arm?” Alexander asked.

“My arm..?” She looked at her arm, and sure enough, there were two handprint shaped bruises where Vincent had grabbed her to stop her from falling. “Oh, I was just messing around with friends,” She lied. Alexander didn’t look like he believed her. 

Melody took them back downstairs. “Thanks for showing us around!” Lance chirped.

“Yeah..no problem,” Melody responded. She told them where to put their shoes and coats. She walked into the dark living room, no lights were on. She sat down on the couch. 

Melody sat in silence until she felt someone sit next to her, she looked next to her and saw Vincent. “Hi, where di-” She got cut off by a hand to her mouth. He didn’t speak, he just put his finger to his lips. 

Melody sighed, he was acting weird. She got up and went to the kitchen full of adults. Jen looked at her, “How’s your head today?”

“It’s fine, I only have a slight headache,” Melody told her as she sat at the kitchen table, next to Lance. Lance smiled at her. 

Melody looked at him, then at Alexander, and then at her mom. She noticed how similar they looked. They had the same eyes, the same nose, mouth, ears, and face shape. “Are you guys..related? You all kinda look the same…” Melody asked.

“We’re not, but we do get that a lot,” Jen explained. 

“Well actually, Lance and I are brothers. He’s the only sibling I have.” Alexander said icily. Jen gave him a look. Lance just sighed.

“Can you guys please not argue with a kid in the room?” Lance asked desperately.

Melody sighed as well, everyone was acting weird. She got up and decided that weird Vincent was the better option. She walked into the still dark living room and sat back down next to him.

Vincent just looked at her, he motioned to the stairs. Melody got up and walked upstairs. Vincent followed, hesitating before crossing the hallway. Melody went into her room and shut the door after Vincent entered. 

“So what’s your deal?” Melody asked, looking at Vincent.

“ _ I just don’t trust them, I think they might be here because of your “odd behaviors”. I also just don’t like the black haired one,”  _ Vincent explained.

“Understandable, I don’t like Alexander either.” Melody agreed, “He seems offended by my existence.” 

Vincent just nodded, “ _ I think I’ll stay in your room until they leave.” _

Melody scoffed, “There’s no way I’m letting you do that. You know the rule. You have to stay in the living room at night. It’s not like they can see you, anyway”

Vincent sighed, “ _ What if I stayed in your closet at night?” _

Melody looked at him in disbelief, “No! That’s hella creepy!” She exclaimed.

Vincent groaned, “ _ FINE.”  _

“Thank you.” She grabbed her phone and the book and sat on her bed. She decided she would start reading it after supper. So instead, she scrolled through social media. 

Chris walked into her room, Vincent jumped up when he did, but then relaxed upon seeing who it was. “Hey,” Chris said, he closed the door and sat at her desk.

“Hi?” Melody responded, confused.

“So uh, what do you think of them? The new guys, I mean.” Chris questioned.

“Oh uh, I dunno, I don’t like Alexander. Lance is nice, I guess…” Melody responded.

“So uh… how’s your uh, friend? The imaginary one?” Chris asked.

“Why?” Melody asked.

“I dunno, just wondering.” Chris shrugged.

Melody glanced at Vincent, Vincent look confused, “ _ I wouldn’t say anything.”  _

Melody then just shrugged. Chris sighed, and sat, silent, for a moment, “Well, supper is done, that’s why I came in here.” He got up and walked out of the room. Melody sighed and followed. She went to the dining room, Alexander and Lance were already sitting at the table.

Melody sat down at the table across from the brothers. Chris sat next to Melody. No one was saying anything, Jen was in the kitchen, serving up food.

Alexander was staring at Melody. Lance was sitting quietly next to Alexander, awkwardly. Melody was staring at her hands. Chris was looking around the room. 

Jen walked in with two plates and gave them to Alexander and Lance. She walked out and came back with three plates. She gave one to Chris, one to Melody, and then sat down next to Melody.

Melody looked at her plate of spaghetti. She started eating. 

“How’s the food?” Jen asked.

“It’s wonderful, thank you.” Lance complimented.

“Yeah, what he said.” Alexander agreed.

Jen smiled, “So Melody, another reason Alexander and Lance are here is to evaluate what keeps causing these episodes of yours.”

Melody sank into her seat a bit, she didn’t like where this conversation was going. “I just don’t want you to continue hurting yourself, Melody.” Jen explained. 

Melody didn’t say anything, she just picked at her food. Jen looked at Alexander. Alexander cleared his throat, “Melody, we had heard that you have a friend, could you tell us about this friend?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Melody said, glaring at Alexander.

Alexander looked at Lance for help. Lance spoke up, “Melody, we’re only trying to help.”

“No, you think I-” She cut off, suddenly feeling sick. 

“Melody?” Jen asked, worried.

Melody just looked at her, then at Alexander and Lance. Her head was pounding and the world seemed to spin. She got up, which was instantly a bad idea. She stumbled and fell into the table.

Jen sprung up and steadied her. Melody leaned on her mother, “Mom...I don’t feel good…” Melody managed to stutter out. 

Alexander jumped up, “Let me carry her to her room,” Alexander offered. Jen nodded and Alexander picked Melody up with ease. He carried her up the stairs and to her bedroom, Jen and Lance followed him. Melody laid in his arms, she was in pain.

Alexander set her on her bed, Melody looked up at him. Alexander felt her forehead, “She feels really warm, she’s going to need some water.” Jen rushed back downstairs.

Alexander looked around her room, not leaving the girl’s side. Lance stood next to him. Melody finally drifted off to sleep. Alexander looked at Lance, “What if…?” 

Lance shook his head, “I think she’s just sick, Alexander…” 

“But-” Alexander started.

Lance cut him off, “We haven’t seen anything, I think it's okay.” 

Alexander sighed, “Okay…” 

Jen walked back in with water. The two men stepped out of the way. Jen put the water on Melody’s night stand. The three left the room so Melody could rest. Unknowingly to them, Vincent watched from the shadows of her closet.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is actually a combo of chapter 4 and five, so sorry if its long ahah

Melody woke up to the creak of a floorboard right next to her bed. She opened her eyes slowly, adjusting to the morning light streaming through her windows. She looked to her right and saw Vincent standing next to her bed, just staring at her.

“What are you doing in here…?” Melody asked groggily, still trying to wake up. 

Vincent shrugged. “ _ You got sick and I wanted to check on you, _ ” he replied, but something about his voice seemed a little off. Melody decided to ignore it. 

The young girl sat up and instantly regretted it. “What the hell happened to my head…?” she groaned, as her head throbbed with pain. She looked over to see if she had water on her nightstand, she didn’t. 

“ _ They didn’t get you water, they just brought you upstairs and left,”  _ Vincent explained. 

“Oh…” Melody replied, feeling a little hurt. Her mom always gets her water when she’s sick. Melody got up, deciding she was going to try to go downstairs for water and meds. 

She stumbled to the door and opened it, she heard talking and laughing downstairs. That was a foreign sound, especially on a Sunday morning. 

Melody made her way downstairs, being careful not to trip. Her stomach growled at the smell of bacon and pancakes. She went into the living room, to be greeted with the scene of her mother, Lance, and Alexander talking and laughing.

Jen looked at Melody and shot up. She rushed over to her daughter, “How are you feeling, Mel?”

“I’ve been better… my head hurts,” Melody told her. 

“Well I bet some breakfast would make you feel better, and some medication,” Jen said as she left the room to get Melody what she needed. Melody sat on the loveseat.

“Goodmorning, Miss Melody.” Lance greeted cheerfully.

“Hi…” Melody greeted, glancing at Alexander, who was staring at her. 

“Hello, Melody,” Alexander greeted. Melody didn’t say anything. Alexander didn’t expect her to. 

They sat in silence for a few more minutes before Jen returned with breakfast, water, and medicine for Melody. Melody graciously accepted the items. She gobbled up her food and took her medicine. 

For the next few days, things started getting weird. Vincent would always start showing up in her bedroom in the mornings. He seemed more irritable and grouchy. Melody started reading the journal she found. It belonged to someone named Owen Taylor. So far, he’s just been drafted into WW1. Alexander and Lance (mostly Lance) have been trying to always be doing something with her. They’ve mostly been playing video games with her. 

Melody got a lot more comfortable around Lance, the same can’t be said with Alexander. Alexander seemed to always be watching her.

Currently, Melody was in her room, reading a book for school.

“ _ I don’t get it. They’ve been here for a week. Why haven’t they left?”  _ Vincent growled. 

Melody shrugged, “I don’t know, I don’t mind them being here.”

_ “AHAH! I know why they’re here! YOU’RE being too friendly! They don’t get the message that they AREN’T welcome! _ ” Vincent accused.

“Oh come on, Vincent! They ARE welcome, and I quite like Lance. You’re just mad I haven’t been spending time with you,” Melody scoffed.

“ _ That’s not true! _ ” Vincent exclaimed.

“Oh? Then you must know more than you’re letting on. You must know why they’re here!” Melody snapped.

“ _ Shut up. _ ” Vincent snarled.

“YOU must be the reason they’re here! Lance told me he was a priest! And what are you? An apparition? A ghost? An angel? A DEMON?” Melody glared.

“ _ I SAID SHUT UP! _ ” Vincent yelled, his voice suddenly un-human, while grabbing her arm. There was a dark look in his burning blue eyes. Melody screamed, scared. She heard frantic footsteps stomping up the stairs. Vincent whipped around, then looked back at Melody. He glared, and suddenly, he was gone. 

Less than a second later, Lance and Alexander burst into her room. “Are you okay?!” Lance exclaimed, “We heard yelling and then you screamed?!”

Melody was shaking, “I...I…” She looked at where Vincent was just standing. 

Lance rushed over to her, “What happened?”

Melody burst into tears. Lance looked at Alexander, alarmed. Lance then hugged Melody, “Hey hey, it’s okay... you’re safe with us…”

Melody cried into his shoulder, still scared. Lance looked behind her and saw books scattered on her bed, his eyes landed on the journal. Lance reached behind her and picked it up. “What’s this…?” He asked her. Alexander rushed over and grabbed it before Melody could muster up an answer. 

He flipped through the pages, his eyes widening, “Where did you get this?!” He snapped at her.

“Woah, Alexander, calm down. What even is it?” Lance questioned. 

“You don’t recognize it?! It’s Owen’s journal for Gods sake!” Alexander exclaimed. 

Lance’s eyes widened, “Melody… you took that from the abandoned house, didn’t you?”

Melody started crying harder, afraid she was in trouble. She nodded. 

Lance hugged her again, “Hey shhh, you’re not in trouble. It’s okay…”

“Uh, no it’s not!” Alexander snapped.

Lance glared at his brother, “You did the same thing,” Lance accused.

“And look where that got us, Lance!” Alexander shot back.

“We’ll talk about this later, Alexander!” The blonde silenced his brother. He then turned back to Melody, “Lets go downstairs, okay?” 

Melody nodded. She sniffed and tried to calm herself. Lance helped her up and they made their way downstairs. Alexander burned holes into Melody’s back with his glare the whole way down.

They went into the living room and Lance sat Melody down on the couch. Lance crouched in front of her while Alexander stood behind Lance. Alexander was still glaring.

“Melody, what happened up there?” Lance calmly questioned.

“I..I thought I saw something is all.” Melody lied, quite badly. Thoughts were racing through her head. They couldn’t know about Vincent, Vincent would get even more mad at her. He might hurt her.

Alexander spoke up, “You don’t need to lie, he can’t hurt you right now. Vincent is powerless if we so choose him to be.” Melody’s eyes widened. 

“That’s not exactly true, but we can stop him from hurting you.” Lance corrected.

“H-How do you…?” Melody couldn’t even find the words to express her confusion. 

“We can’t tell you, that’s entirely up to your mother.” Lance informed her.

“But, we do need to know what happened.” Alexander’s gaze softened. Melody looked at him and everything came rushing out. She told them everything, about her dreams, about Vincent, about the house, everything. Once she was finished, Alexander excused himself and walked out of the room. 

Lance watched him go, sighing, before turning back to Melody. He looked at her arm. Melody looked as well, and it was bruised where Vincent had most recently grabbed her. 

Lance sat next to Melody, and they sat in silence. The only sound was the quiet ticking of the clock, and the occasional sound from the upstairs. 

Alexander returned after a few minutes, he seemed more calm than he did when he left. “I called Jen, she’ll be here in about 15 minutes. For the time being, I think we have some explaining to do regarding the journal,” Alexander explained.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Lance hesitantly questioned.

Alexander sighed, “Yes, she deserves to know what we think is going on.” 

Lance just sighed, “I still think it might make her more of a target, Alexander.”

“I’ll be fine, as long as you guys can somehow keep Vincent from harming me,” Melody piped up.

“Alexander isn’t even sure he can, he does all the protecting.” 

“I’ve actually thought about it, and once I run it by Jen, I think it’ll work.” Alexander interrupted.

“...Okay fine,” Lance finally agreed.

Alexander sat down on the other side of Melody, “Get comfortable, this is a long story…”

Owen Taylor was sitting on the porch looking out into the forest, it was October 1923, in Greyrock, Pennsylvania. The morning breeze felt nice against his skin. He had coffee in his mug and a plate of bacon on a table next to him. 

It was about 6:30AM and the sun was just starting to rise. Everything was still. The kids were asleep, his lover slept, and the wildlife was resting. Everything was peaceful, Owen felt at peace himself. No gunshots, no gas, no screams, no death, no war. It was a beautiful morning, but, every morning was beautiful since the war ended. 

Owen sighed, content. His face scar didn’t hurt, his shoulder wasn’t aching, and he was happy. Owen stood up and put his coffee dow-

“How is this important?” Melody interrupted Alexander. 

Alexander sighed, “Because this is the day where OUR lives were affected forever.” 

“But this is taking place in 1923? And we’re in 2016?” Melody was confused.

“Just listen,” Alexander sighed. Melody nodded. Alexander continued his story.

Owen stood up and put his coffee down, he walked into the house. He made his way up the stairs and into his bedroom, where Ariana, his wife, was sleeping. He laid down next to her, wrapping his arms around her. 

Ariana stirred, and opened her eyes. “It’s too early, love,” She mumbled sleepily, burying herself into him. 

“I think it’s time to wake up,” Owen murmured, looking into her reddish brown eyes.

Ariana sighed, she sat up and stretched. Owen sat up with her, smiling. She looked at him and smiled, “You’re such a dork,” She giggled. 

“I know~” Owen agreed, happily. 

Ariana kissed him on the cheek and got out of bed. Owen followed. Ariana looked at him, “How’s your shoulder, love?” 

“It doesn’t hurt,” Owen told her.

Ariana nodded, “Good, did you make breakfast?”

Owen nodded, “I did, I made eggs and bacon.”

“Lovely~” Ariana made her way downstairs. Owen followed her until she went into the kitchen. Owen went back to the porch and grabbed his plate of food. 

“I need to head into work today, Ariana.” He told his wife as he walked into the kitchen. 

“Okay, you might as well take us with you, I need to go shopping,” She replied, while eating the breakfast he made. 

“Alright,” Owen walked back into his bedroom.

  
  


“I still don’t see how this affects us.” Melody boredly replied, “Can’t you skip a few hours? Or until something happens?”

Alexander sighed, “Alright, alright. FINE.” 

Owen had gone to work to do a few things for about a half hour, and Ariana was loading her groceries into the car. Gabrielle and Dominick played on the sidewalk, occasionally asking if they could go to the park nearby. 

Ariana finally gave in and after she loaded the groceries, they walked to the park. It was a cool fall day, everyone expected the first snowfall to be soon. 

At the park, Dominick found other children to play with. They played catch with a ball. Gabrielle joined them after her brother unceremoniously begged. 

“And then Dominick ran into the street. He got hit by a truck and died,” Alexander explained.

“Well that escalated quickly,” Melody noted, “what happened next?” 

“Well, we’re not entirely sure. The rest of Owen’s journal was filled with paranoid rambles, likely caused by his PTSD and the blow of losing his son, but we are sure of one thing, Owen died and we think it was because of Vincent.”

“Wait what?” Melody was even more confused.

“Based on a journal we found of Ariana’s, she talked about a man she didn’t recognize that she kept seeing. He did look like Owen according to her, though. She made remarks about romantic advances he made. We think that it was Owen’s brother.” Lance added.

“A brother?” Melody questioned.

“Owen talked about having a brother, and that he wronged him. He never wrote how. I think that Vincent- his brother- killed Owen so he could have Ariana, or just simply in revenge.” Alexander said.

“What happened to Ariana…?” Melody questioned. Lance and Alexander glanced at each other. “What aren’t you telling me?” 

Just then, Jen burst into the house. She rushed into the living room, “Melody! Are you okay?!” 

“I’m fine, mom.” Melody reassured her. 

“Jen... we have to tell her. Chris too.” Alexander demanded.

Jen looked him in the eyes, and after what seemed like forever, she responded, “Fine.” She left to get Chris. 

Once everyone was settled and in the living room, Alexander told the story to Chris, and explained Melody’s situation. 

“So what did happen to Ariana?” Melody asked again.

Alexander spoke up, “She had another child, the child’s name was Paige Taylor. Paige got tormented by Vincent. Paige had a kid, the kid’s name was Karen. Karen was tormented by Vincent and started a church. Karen then had three children, triplets. Their names were Alexander, Lance…” Alexander paused.

“And Jen.” Jen finished for him, “We all were tormented by him. Melody, Chris, your last names aren’t Rose. Your last name is Taylor.”

“I changed our last names to maybe just...Help isolate us from our family.” Jen admitted

Melody's eyes widened, "Wait...does that mean we're related to Owen…?" 

Alexander shrugged, "We don't know. Grandma Paige doesn't know who her father was. Whether it was Owen, the person Ariana married after Owen died, or someone else." 

"Does anyone know how exactly Owen died?" Melody asked.

"Only Vincent would, Owen wrote about seeing his brother in the last of his maniac rambles."

Melody nodded, “Okay…so… how come I- WE- can see Vincent?”

“That, unfortunately, is another thing we don’t know,” Alexander sighed.

“Well what DO you know?” Melody asked, exasperated. 

“Not much.” Alexander admitted, “Only that the eldest children can see him.” 

“Wait, I can’t see him though,” Chris interrupted.

“That’s becau-”

“Shut it.” Jen interrupted Alexander.

“Oh so NOW you cut in? Because let me guess, you don’t want your kids to know you made a HUGE mistake,” Alexander snapped.

“I didn’t make a mistake!” Jen snapped back.

“Oh REALLY? If it weren’t for YOUR selfishness, we WOULDN’T be HERE!” Alexander accused. 

“I’M NOT SELFISH!” 

“OH THAT’S A LOAD OF BULLSH-”

“GUYS!” Lance shouted, angrily, standing up while he did so. Melody and Chris both flinched, so did Alexander and Jen, “Can you two NOT fight for ONE day?! We have WAY more important issues to worry about! Vincent could come back at ANY minute, Melody and Chris are unprotected, Alexander, YOU’RE unprotected, Jen...He never wanted anything to do with you now that you don’t have the ability to see him, so you’re an easy killing target for him. He views you as a nuisance. We can’t let him kill anyone else. We swore to that after...after he…”

“After he killed our friends…” Alexander finished for him, his voice was thick with guilt. Jen looked at the floor.

“So, we need to protect ourselves. Alexander...You know spells, are there any that could help us?” Lance continued.

“Yes, but first, Melody, do you have any friends that have seen him? He might go after them to get to you.” Alexander asked.

“I don’t think so- OLIVER! He saw him in the woods!” Melody exclaimed, jumping up, “He lives in Greyrock!” 

Alexander looked at Jen, “We’re in Adderfield, the drive is about 20 minutes, right?” 

“Right,” She confirmed. 

“We should go get him then. Do you know where he lives?” 

“Yes, I’ll call his foster mother and just...tell her Melody wants a sleepover.” Jen decided.

“Should I come with?” Melody asked.

“No, you both need to stay here with Lance,” Alexander said, addressing Chris and Melody.

Melody sighed, “Okay, fine.” 

Jen called Oliver’s house, and after brief discussion, the pair left the house. Melody hugged her mom goodbye, just incase, and then the three were left to protect themselves.


	5. Chapter 5

Vincent left as soon as he heard Lance and Alexander marching up the stairs. He cursed to himself as he was forced to retreat to his usual spot. 

He reached his clearing in the forest, still muttering, “ _ That brat. I was only trying to help her. _ ” He was quite agitated. He sat down at the base of a rotting tree at the base of the cliff, to think about what he would do next. He ran a hand through his dark brown hair, getting it out of his face. He sighed and leaned back against the rock. He looked up at the ever-changing red hued sky of limbo. The only color he’s seen in a long time, other than himself and- He shook his head, he was getting off track. Back to planning. The Taylors have evaded him more than once now, and he was trying to give them a sliver of a chance,to play fair. He’s sick of it.

If Alexander wanted to cheat with magic, he just has to fight fire with fire, he decided. 

Vincent thought about what they think is going on, and how he could use their answer to his advantage. He smiled maliciously. He figured it out. All he needed to do wa-

“ _ Vincent! _ ” A female voice called.

Vincent at the voice who called him, then he glared at her, “ _ Go away, I’m not in the mood for your intrusive, undignified, inelegant pleading _ .”

“ _ I’m not here for that, I’m here to stop you from doing anything you’ll regret _ .” She retorted.

“ _ HAH! And how are you gonna do that, angel? Annoy me until I go to Heaven? _ ” Vincent taunted her.

She rolled her eyes, “ _ No, I just have to bring up Ow- _ ” She was cut off by an arm pinning her’s behind her, and the feel of something cold against her throat.

“ _ We talked about this~ _ ” Vincent murmured into her ear with a smirk, restraining her. His chest was pressed against her back.

She froze and spoke nothing, not giving him the pleasure of a response. He pressed the knife harder into her throat, and golden blood trickled down her neck.

She gave in, “ _ Yes! Yes we did! _ ” 

Vincent smiled, satisfied, and he let her go,“ _ Now, I don’t want to see you back here. _ ”

She whipped around and looked at him, “ _ You can’t stop me.”  _

Vincent smirked. “ _ No, angel, you can’t stop ME, _ ” Their faces were only inches away from each other. He could feel warmth radiating off of her and onto his cold skin. “Playtime’s over, Love.” He murmured,”Soon, it’ll be an endgame for one of us…” His voice faded out. She lifted her gaze, and blue eyes met red ones. He closed the gap between them. Cold lips met warm ones, softly. For a second, everything was at peace, everything was how it should’ve been, if only for a moment.

_ “I’ll find out how to stop you. Until next time, Vincent. _ ”  She spoke softly, breaking their closeness, and disappeared, her body fading into light.

_ “Until next time, Ariana,”  _ His voice fell on deaf ears _.  _ Vincent was looking at the spot she was just standing, frowning. His gaze lingered longer than it should have, before he himself faded into shadow.


	6. Chapter 6

Melody, Chris, and Lance sat in the living room. “So are we just gonna sit here, or are we gonna do something?” Chris asked Lance. 

“I don’t know, Alexander knows all the spells.” Lance confessed.

“Wait, like...actual spells? Magic?” Melody piped up.

“Er...yeah. I know, it sounds weird, but your Great Grandmother, Paige, researched magic and figured out how to use it. It’s helped us defend against Vincent, and well, it’s helped us banish him back to...uh...wherever he comes from,” Lance explained, with difficulty.

Melody was about to respond but she was cut off by a loud crashing noise in the kitchen. Lance jumped up in alarm, so did Melody. 

“Uh…” Chris questioned.

“Stay here.” Lance ordered, but before he could walk into the kitchen, someone ran into the living room. 

“ _Please...you have to help me…_ ” The man stuttered out, he seemed to be out of breath. Melody’s eyes widened. He was barely able to stand, his legs shook and he looked like he was about to pass out. But that wasn’t why she was staring. He looked like Vincent, but...he didn’t. There were clear differences. 

First, he wasn’t as thin, he had some muscle to him. Second, he wasn’t pale, he had tanned skin. Like he just sunbathed on a beach. Third, his voice was different, it wasn’t as...well Vincenty. Fourth, his hair was lighter brown, and it was out of his face. He had a scar on his face, from his nose to under his left eye. Melody looked him in the eyes, her red-brown eyes locked with his dark blue ones. 

He then proceeded to fall over, Lance rushed forward and caught him. Lance helped him to the couch and sat him down. The man looked up at him, “ _Thank yo-_ ”

“Who are you?” Lance cut in, adopting the role of tough guy with Alexander gone.

The guy looked taken aback by the sudden hostility, “ _U-Um...m-my name is Owen… ”_

Lance glanced at Melody. Chris sat there, wondering who they were talking to. Lance looked back at him, “Why do you need help?”

Owen started rambling instantly, he said that Vincent has been killing him over and over in a vicious cycle, “A deadly game of hide and seek, really.” Owen said, his voice wavering, “I...I need help...Please...I want to go up there,” He looked up, “To my family…” 

Melody walked over to him, “We’ll help you.” 

“Y-You will?” Owen looked at her, hopefully. Melody nodded. “Oh thank you!” He exclaimed, jumping forward and embracing her in a hug, “But...didn’t I teach you not to talk to strangers?” Vincent muttered to her.

Melody’s eyes widened, but it was too late. Before she could say a single word, ‘Owen’ was gone. What replaced him was sharp, intense pain in her head. Melody tried crying out, but all that came out was blood. 

She fell to her knees, she thought she heard Lance and Chris yell, but she wasn’t sure. All she heard was a loud ringing in her ears, she felt tears form in her eyes, but they stung. She blinked them away, and as they rolled down her cheeks, she saw Chris looking at her in horror. 

Melody felt her tears land on her hands and she looked down. Instead of water, she found blood. Her vision blurred and she felt herself sway, the ringing getting louder. Then, again, she watched as the world faded to black. Only this time, her head wasn’t her own.

  
  
  


Melody awoke with a dull ache in her head. She looked around, she was in her bed, Lance was in her desk chair. Alexander was leaning on a wall next to him, they both looked as if they just made the worst decision of their lives.

Melody sat up, suddenly, but she didn’t try to sit up, she didn’t want to. Lance and Alexander looked at her, Lance stood up. Melody tried to speak, to as what was going on, but she couldn’t move her mouth. She started glaring at the two, but she wasn’t angry. With growing hysteria, she realized she wasn’t in control of her body. 

Vincent was.

She started getting overwhelmed with panic, and before she knew it, her body was hyperventilating. “W-What the…?” She heard herself say. Lance and Alexander watched her from their distance. 

_Get out get out get out get out get out get out,_ Melody thought over and over.

 _Shut up,_ Vincent thought back.

Her body started crying, and she felt it fall backwards onto the bed. Then everything was dark, but she was still conscious. 

_What the hell did you just do?!_ Vincent thought, but she could hear his voice clear as day.

 _I...I don’t know!_ Melody cried. 

Suddenly, she was able to see. She was in a grey world, in a forest somewhere. The sky was changing between red hues. She looked ahead and saw Vincent glaring at her. She realized she was in her own body now.

 _We’re asleep. Great. And we’re dreaming one of MY dreams._ He growled at her.

 _That’s not my fault! You’re the one who...who did this to me!_ Melody exclaimed.

_You’re the one who made us pass out!_

_There shouldn’t even be an ‘us’ Vincent! What did you even do to me?! I feel like crap, my mouth tastes like blood, my right eye hurts and it’s your fault!_ Melody snapped, starting to cry again.

Vincent didn’t say anything. He just looked at her, glaring. His gaze suddenly softened a bit, but not in a good way. He looked away for a few moments, then he smiled. He looked at her with a predatory smile. 

Melody backed away from him, _Whatever you’re about to do. Don’t._

_We can do this the hard way, or the easy way, Mel._

_Don’t call me that._ She snapped.

Vincent leaned back against the wall of rock, _Here’s the easy way, you let me control the body, I spare you. Here’s the hard way, you refuse and I have to force you into letting me control the body,_

Melody looked up as he went on a rant about how’d he kill her, and saw that it was a cliff. She saw movement at the edge of the forest, she quickly glanced at it, but it was too dark to see exactly what it was, but it was definitely moving towards Vincent. Whether that was good or bad, she hadn’t decided, but it was moving quickly and he hadn’t noticed.

 _...and then I’ll kill everyone else._ Vincent finished his rant, _so what will it be? Option 1 or 2?_

 _I choose option 3._ Melody said, and before Vincent could voice his confusion, the things pounced, and there were 4 of them. They were huge masses of darkness and she stared as they started attacking him, his scream ripping through the air followed by the vicious snarling of animals. She didn’t have time to make out what they were, before she decided to run for it. 

She ran into the trees, and up the hill, leading to the top of the cliff they were below. She climbed it as fast as she could, wanting to get away from him. She knew he wouldn’t be held off forever, this was only a dream. 

As she reached the top, she was thrown into a world of color. The sky stayed the same, but the grass was green, leaves golden brown and red, and it was chillier. 

There was movement next to her, she looked, and standing only about 10 feet away, was the grayscale figure of Owen. He was standing at the edge of the cliff, he didn’t look at her. He stepped off the edge. Melody remembered the day she was knocked off the same cliff, she rushed over and looked down. The fall wasn’t long enough to kill someone, Owen was laying at the bottom, unmoving except for the occasional twitch. She noticed Vincent was no longer down there. 

Melody got up and started running again, the path familiar thanks to Vincent showing her the way only weeks before. As she ran she passed Owen again, this time walking to the cliff. She ignored him and he didn’t see her. 

She got to the house, and saw Owen outside with Ariana. They were yelling at each other. Melody, for some reason, decided the house was safe. She ran inside, and was greeted with a mess. Owen was on the floor sobbing, Ariana was trying to comfort him, Gabrielle was quiet. She was just standing there, watching. Melody ran past them, as she passed the window of the porch, she saw Owen sitting on a chair.

She went back outside. Ariana, the Owens from before, and Gabrielle were gone. Melody sat down on the chair next to him, to catch her breath. Owen was looking at the forest, coffee in hand, and a plate of bacon next to him. 

“You should try to wake up now, he’ll be busy for a while.” Owen said, looking at her. 

_I uh...you can see me?_ Melody asked.

“Of course I can, but don’t forget what you saw, okay?” Owen told her, smiling warmly.

Melody nodded, _Okay_.

Owen looked at the sky, “It sure is a great day.”

Melody sat up, panting and sweating, she was in her bed. Her own bed. She looked at Alexander and Lance, who were still in the same spots as they were when she passed out. 

“Get me a pen and paper, now.” She told them.

Alexander sighed a sigh of relief, hearing that it was Melody. Her voice not altered by the 2nd party inhabiting the body. Lance grabbed her a pen and paper. Melody thanked him, before she started writing down everything she saw. Lance and Alexander watched her quietly.

Once she was finished, she gave it to them, “We were in his dream, but it was some weird...thing. I saw Owen at the end and he told me not to forget what I saw.”

Alexander nodded. Lance shrugged and read it. After he finished he gave it to Alexander. Alexander read it, he looked confused. Melody got out of bed, Lance instantly gave her a bottle of water. She chugged it like she’s never had water before in her life.

“Where’s Mom?” She asked her uncles.

“She’s downstairs with Oliver and Chris, Oliver is really worried and Chris refuses to get within 10 feet of you,” Lance explained.

Melody nodded, then Alexander spoke up, “I think...I think Vincent is Owen.” 

“I uh, kinda already guessed that, honestly.” Melody said, “Why else would he be stuck in a dream reliving Owen’s probable memories?” 

“Yeah, but then why does he want us dead?” Alexander questioned. 

Melody shrugged, “Maybe uh...Paige? Right? Maybe she knows.” 

Lance nodded, “She lives in Greyrock, so it wouldn’t be hard to ask.”

“Yes, but actually no. She never talks about it, remember? Neither does mom,” Alexander informed his brother.

“This is literally a life or death situation, Alexander. He is literally dormant inside a 13 year old girl! He never bothered us at that young of an age,” Lance argued, “Not to mention, if I need to perform an exorcism, I need to be at the church.” 

Alexander sighed, “Fine, but you sit in the car with her.”

Lance nodded, “Okay.” 

Lance helped Melody up completely, and helped her down the stairs. Oliver and Jen jumped up when they saw Melody. Oliver rushed over to her first and gave her a hug. 

“Are you okay?! What happened?!” Oliver exclaimed, checking her over for injury like a worried mother. 

“I’m fine, and I’m not entirely sure myself.” Melody realized how mentally weird she felt. 

Alexander explained the plan and what Melody found out. Jen reluctantly okay-ed it. Chris didn’t say anything, he just stayed away from his now demonic sister. 

They all got ready to get in the car, every suspicious movement, or noise, or word said that Melody made was followed by everyone jumping away from her. Except for Oliver, he knew Melody the best, he could tell when something was off. 

When they finally got in the car, Jen drove. Alexander sat in the passenger's seat. They were taking a van, so Chris and Oliver were in the two middle seats. Lance sat with Melody in the back. She was starting to feel really bad again, so she was leaning on her uncle. 

The entire drive was sat in silence. Oliver was on his phone playing games, Melody was trying not to fall back asleep in fear of Vincent getting through, Lance was looking out the window, because he had given Melody his phone to play games on, Chris was listening to music, Jen was driving while listening to 90s songs on the radio, and Alexander was going through his book of rituals and spells, just in case.

They finally arrived in Greyrock after 20 minutes, Melody looked out the window at the small town. It seemed really calm. Melody gave Lance his phone back. They pulled up to a church, it was quite big. They parked in it's lot, there were people coming out of it. They got out of the car. 

Melody could barely walk, so Lance had to carry her. Many people stared at the group, especially considering the pale skin and dried blood of Melody. Alexander glared at anyone who stared at her. 

Melody looked at her mom, she seemed really on edge. Chris was calm and was standing next to Lance. Oliver stayed by Jen. Chris started talking to Melody when she looked like she was going to fall asleep. 

They walked into the church, they went through the main area and to the back. A few doors later, it opened up into a house. Jen took a shaky breath as they made their way into the living room. There was an older looking woman sitting on the couch, she looked up as the group walked in. 

“Well, look who it is.” She said, glaring at Jen.

“Hi...mom…” Jen awkwardly greeted. 

“Okay, you two can go at each other's throats later, right now we have a bigger issue,” Lance interrupted before the conversation went any further. 

The woman looked at the child Lance had in his arms. Melody waved weakly, “Hello,” She softly said. 

The woman got up and walked over, “Well, hello, I’m Karen.” She greeted.

“I’m Melody,” Melody said, before proceeding to cough. 

“Mom, we need to talk to Paige, and we need to do something about Melody. Vincent is waking up and he’s, well, possessing her and not happy,” Alexander explained, “Melody is Jen’s daughter.”

“Oh you poor thing! You’re so young, too...Well, we need to hurry if he’s mad. We all know what he can do. C’mon,” Karen ordered, she then started leading them to another room. 

Only the triplets and Melody went with, Chris and Oliver stayed behind. They went to a bedroom, and there was an old woman sitting on the large bed. She looked up at them, she frowned when she saw Melody. 

“I suppose Jen here had kids?” Paige said, looking at Melody.

Alexander nodded, “Grandma Paige, we need you to tell us everything you can about Vincent.” 

Paige sighed and shook her head, “No. Not unless I want him to come for me.”

“He’s going to come for all of us if you don’t tell us!” Alexander exclaimed.

“You said that last time, I’m still here.” Paige retorted.

Melody looked around at the soft colors of the room, it smelt like lavender, the winter sunset streamed through the windows, And Melody was exhausted. 

As Alexander and Paige argued, Melody let her eyes close. No one noticed as she slipped into unconsciousness. 

Melody looked around, it was dark everywhere. She was just in a void of darkness. She looked ahead of her and Vincent was sitting with his back to her. She didn’t say anything, but the world turned lighter and the world came into view. 

They were back in the clearing, but this time it was colorful. 

_We’re in your dream, this time._ Vincent commented, he stood up and faced her, _You play pretty dirty, y’know that?_

 _Maybe if you didn’t try killing me, I wouldn’t have to._ Melody snapped. 

_Watch it._

Melody glared at him. They just sat there for a while, glaring at one another. Nothing was happening in the dream, thankfully. 

Vincent sighed, _Obviously nothing is going to get accomplished just glaring at each other. Thankfully, though, we’re in the dreamscape. So, I can do this._ Melody suddenly felt herself flying through the air, before she felt the ground beneath her. Pain sprouted through her body and she yelped. She barely had time to move before she felt the air whipping across her skin and then her back against rock. She felt blood on her back as she hit the ground. Her nose started bleeding. 

Melody dizilly looked at Vincent, he was walking towards her. Melody tried sitting up, but she felt a shoe to her face and her head banging against the rock before she had the chance. 

She felt herself get lifted up and she was eye-level with Vincent. 

_Ready to give up?_ He sneered. 

Melody summoned up all of her wits and courage, and all the strength she had left, _No,_ and before Vincent could come up with a response, Melody swung at his face as hard as she could. 

Vincent cried out in surprise when her fist made contact and he dropped her, _You little SHI-_

Melody was already running, she decided to take a different path than before. Instead of running up the hill, she ran straight into the forest. As soon as she got between the trees, she was suddenly falling. She hit the ground, it wasn’t too hard, but it knocked the wind out of her. She looked around.

She was back where she just ran from. Vincent was in front of her still, glaring. _Nice try, but it’s a dream, remember? I can keep you here,_ He sneered with a smirk.

Melody thought for a moment, it was her dream, wasn’t it? Shouldn't she be the one in control? 

Melody wiped the blood from her face, her nose was still bleeding. She stood up, shakily. She was still dizzy, but she would get used to it. Vincent watched her every move. 

Melody ran at him suddenly, intending to hit him, but he dodged out of the way before she could reach him. He grabbed her by her shirt as she passed him. _Just sleep,_ he said to her.

Melody suddenly felt dizzy and tired. She couldn’t fall asleep, she couldn’t, but her silent struggle to stay awake was in vain, her body went limp in Vincent’s arms.


End file.
